Read Part 1 First
https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=17&threadid=325254
12/20/14 Saturday
Saturday morning in Vegas. I was up at the crack of dawn. I like to get out there on Fremont when it’s just me and the cleaning crew.
“Cleaning up in Vegas”
Animation .GIF, Cropped.
First thing every morning I go looking for coffee with at least 2 shots of espresso…sometimes more. I walked over to the Dunkin Donuts at the Fremont and got a couple of cups of coffee with two shots of Turbo Espresso. I had them add an extra turbo shot for the Newbie… because I felt he needed some more pep.
“Fremont Fremont”
Symmetry Effect
Our original plan was to stay put….just enjoy a leisurely day downtown. No driving…plenty of drinking. Instead we decided to catch up on some of the gambling plays we had missed. We set out around 10:00 AM for a three hour tour.
First Stop was Ellis Island for breakfast. There was a 15 minute wait at the coffee shop, so we joined the huddled masses at the bar for one of their seasonal Egg Nog Brandies (LVA free drinks). I had 1 Egg Nog Brandy. Newbie had 3. He was a little hyper this morning. Breakfast was good but the service was slow. We used the LVA 2 4 1 entre, so it was a real value. We also hit the various gambling plays available like the MRB & ACG Free slot plays and the ACG Matchplay.
We drove next door to the Tuscany where we had so many plays it was hard for the player’s club to grasp. Newbie got a new player sign-up slot play bonus of $10 and a sign-up coupon book with a $10 Matchplay. There were also slotplays or Matchplays or both for ACG , MRB and Vegas Rover. I think we made about $80 on our bets here.
For some reason, they didn’t like me in the pit area….I think it was my Lucky Hat. I ordered a Bombay Sapphire Martini from the cocktail waitress. It never came. It turned out that The Pit Boss ordered her not to give it to me because I was not worthy. Well…Just for that, I’ll not grace their halls to take advantage of their free gambling offers again…wait a minute….No, no, no… Just for that I will make it a point to grace their halls again next year….and every year…and I will get my Bombay Sapphire Martini too…and I will make them like me.
After a stop at the Palms to cash in a winning sports bet, we returned to The D. We then proceeded to take advantage of every Matchplay and Free Slot Play opportunity available downtown. We had $150 in Matchplay at Golden Gate ($50 Rovers & $100 Allegiant). We both bet $50 + our $50 Matchplays on one roll of roulette (Red, Red, Red). It came up Black. Ouch. Our biggest bet of the trip…a loser. We also both lost subsequent $25 Matchplay bets at Golden Gate, but won at The D. Our gambling tour took us to Plaza, Las Vegas Club, D, Golden Gate, Four Queens, Downtown Grand and Binions. We enjoyed a couple of excellent Dark Beers at the Plaza Bier Garten. It’s a nice little space, but was totally empty….except for us.
“Binions Millions”
Florescent Effect
Throughout the trip I was able to check on our various Sports Bets….especially our big bets on the Colorado State Rams by simply saying to my phone: “Ok Google” “Las Vegas Bowl Score”…and the nice Google Lady would tell me the score. It was ugly. There was no joy in Fort Collins. The Green and Gold had lost. In retrospect we should have known better and stuck with our cool team name betting strategy. It was the Utah UTES….that’s for the Tribe of Indians comprised of the UTE people who populated the Great Basin. I’m sure the Utes would have enjoyed a Colorado Ram for dinner. What were we thinking?
Speaking of dinner, it was at Hennessey’s Tavern …In the World’s largest Pint.
“World’s Largest Pint”
We had a Hennessey’s $50 gift certificate we won at a Vegas 4 Locals E-Bay auction for $26. We both ordered the Burger Sampler which included four mini-burgers. We had cheeseburger, mushroom burger, avocado burger and barbecue sauce with bacon burger. The sampler included French Fries and a Pickle. We also enjoyed many Guinness Stouts. I’d definitely go back…it was another excellent deal….especially at ½ price. I have probably walked by this place more than 100 times and had never set foot inside. I’m glad we did.
Our next stop was Fremont East and the Vanguard Lounge. We had a $40 Groupon we paid $16 for. The cocktail lounge was completely empty, but a party of 10 women walked in just in front of us. This bar is known for their ‘Mixology’, so we challenged Landon The Bartender to pour us each a $20 drink. He asked what drinks we like. Newbie mentioned tequila….I professed my love of Gin. Newbie got a single shot of a higher end reposado tequila. Landy poured me a Bijou cocktail. It was my first. Made with Plymouth Gin (Navy Strength), Green Chartreuse, Vermouth and Bitters.
He educated us on the history of Green Chartreuse. It’s a secret blend of over 125 herbs. There are only two Carthusian Monks who are entrusted with the 400 year old formula. Landon poured us a small shot of Chartreuse to share. Newbie thought it tasted like burning tires…I got more of a combo disinfectant/pesticide like chemical with a strong herbal nose. I told Landon that I wasn’t sure I liked the Bijou. He told me the Navy Strength Gin was 100 Proof and the Chartreuse clocked in at 110 and it would get me drunker quicker. I acquired a taste for it.
We walked on down to El Cortez for our last free play of the day….then casually strolled back down Fremont taking in all of the sights and sounds of a December Saturday Night in Downtown Las Vegas. We ran into drunk, despondent Colorado fans and drunk, elated Utah fans.
Finally made it back to The D about midnight. A Bombay sapphire martini at Vue Bar and a few rounds of Keno and it was time for bed. Tip:—The Keno Lounge at D (And Fitzgerald’s before it) will give you drink coupons you can take right to the Vue bar….if you just can’t wait for the cocktail waitress. I purchased 20 games of 1 dollar 6 spot keno, so I could have a nice big winner to greet my morning. Headed up to the room and called it a night.
“Dreamy Butts of Las Vegas Club”
12/21/14 Sunday
Up early again. More Coffee and Espresso. My twenty games of Keno were all losers. Overall it was an OK stay at The D. The room was clean. I have always loved the Vue Bar and the Keno Lounge. The Long Bar is cool and so are the Dancer Dealers. There were two problems though.
1. On Saturday night there were elevator problems. Serious problems. Must have been 50 people waiting. They had security trying to direct traffic and talk of ½ hour waits. That didn’t bother me since we weren’t trying to use the elevator then.
2. Newbie complained of a cold shower Saturday Morning. That didn’t bother me either since I had already showered.
Checked out of the D. (Our room was $13.00. The Resort Fee was $25), picked up the Mustang Convertible and headed right down Las Vegas Boulevard to The Cosmopolitan…Our final destination resort.
I have no idea why…but the Cosmopolitan was kind enough to offer me two free Mid-Week nights. We were taking advantage of one. Made it to Check-In at 11:00 AM where I requested a complementary upgrade to the Penthouse Suite. The nice clerk found us a Terrace Suite she could upgrade us to. But wait a minute---it was a one King Bed room. I didn’t like the newbie THAT much. She claimed there was nothing else she could do. I’ve learned that when the Check In agent tells me ‘No’ they often don’t mean ‘Absolutely No’, I just pretended she really said ‘Tell me more, AlanLeroy’. So I did. Eventually she called over to Marketing and got the ok to upgrade us to a 2 queen terrace suite. Score!
The room was excellent. It was spacious and modern. Of course the best feature was the terrace and wonderful view. I could have spent the day lounging on the balcony…but I’m no Vegas lounger.
Cosmopolitan Terrace View
“Illustrated Harmon”.
Illustration Setting--Zoomed
They are removing the Harmon piece by piece. I imagine next December it will be gone. I also have a .GIF I shot from Planet Hollywood that perpetually raises and lowers Harmon debris.
“Deconstructing Harmon”
“Veer Towers”. The 37 Story all residential towers at City Center.
“City Center Illustrated”.
Illustration Setting
“City Center Panorama”
Panorama Mode
‘Illustrated Balcony’
Illustration Setting
“City Center Illustrated—South”
Illustration Setting
I donned my original lucky hat (The “OH”) and my very lucky craps shirt and was now ready for my final lucky day in Vegas.
Lunch was at Cosmopolitan’s Estiatorio Milos for the 22.14 lunch special. It was our best meal of the trip and one of the best values in town for a fine 3 course lunch. Although we had reservations requesting a window view and we were first in line, they tried to seat us with the proletariat in the middle of the restaurant. I suggested that a window table would be more in keeping with the quality of my hat…….and the request was promptly granted.
“Newbie Milos”
Tomato Salad---feta cheese, seasoned with Greek herbs & extra virgin olive oil
Greek Meze Plate---Tarama, Tzatziki, Htipiti, manouri cheese, olives & cherry tomatoes (missing)
Colorado Prime Lamb Chop with French fries and broccoli
($10 supplementary)
Lavraki--grilled Mediterranean bass
The Real Greek Yogurt & Espresso
Everything about the lunch and the service and the room was just perfect. I’m not sure what else I can say about it…except the Sea Bass is flown in fresh daily and if you can get one of those window seats, it adds to the whole experience. After lunch we hit the Cantor Sportsbook at Cosmo for our final sports bets.
Then we struck out walking south headed toward Mandalay Bay. We had an appointment with a 4:00 PM Happy Hour.
The next two shots are the best examples of real simulated lomogaphy in the report. Although they aren’t as striking as many of the special effects I’ve used, they kind of have their very own warmth and feeling. That….kind of warm blurry Las Vegas feeling that comes with the combination of lack of sleep and large quantities of espresso and alcohol.
“Lomo Flowers”
LomoWarm Effect
“Crystals Lomo”
Vintage Effect
“Electric Cyrstals”
Infrared Effect
“Aria Water and Penguin”
Pastel Oil Effect
“Veer for Roger Rabbit”
Cartoon Effect
We made our way up to the second floor of New York, New York and walked across the bridge over Tropicana to Excaliber. Then boarded the Tram to Mandalay Bay. At Mandalay Bay we purchased and played the 30 for 20 Win Card chips and then at 4:00 PM, visited Red Square for their Happy Hour. We each had a Happy Hour Beer and then decided to splurge on some fine Russian Vodka.
“Jewel of Russia”
It priced out at about $25 a shot, and it was the smoothest Vodka I’ve ever tasted.
We then retraced our steps back to Excaliber and over the bridge to New York New York where we took advantage of another $30 for $20 Win Card deal. The Newbie and I parked ourselves with our Win Chips at a Roulette table. I bet $15 on Red and $15 on a 1/3 of the table. Hey! My 1/3 bet won. I left the win card chips on the 1/3 bet. The dealer put the wheel in motion and set the ball moving. I had a feeling. I said to newbie…”It’s going to be 29 Black”. I moved a $5.00 chip from the third bet to 29 Black. The dealer noticed the move…picked up my bet and put it back on my 1/3 bet and said $10.00 minimum. Then waved her hand and said “no more bets”. Of course you all know how this one ends up. 29 Black it is! And I lost the 1/3 bet. Let that be a lesson. Next time you get that “I know the number” feeling, move your whole stack to it.
Had a brief stop at the new Hershey Store there at NY NY.
“Macro Candy”
Macro Lens. This was the only test of my new Macro Lens. I put the phone on top of a plastic box of candy that had tiny colored sprinkles on it.
We then returned to the COSMO to freshen up before our last night on the town. While I’m wearing the luckiest of hats, I am constantly stopped and smiled at and pointed at and high fived at. I hear the words “Great Hat” or “Love that Hat” all the time. Today was no exception. In fact a lady stopped me at Cosmo and said “My 10 year old daughter pointed out that hat to me. It’s so awesome!”. Yes. It is awesome.
“City Night”
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS: There is a gap in my picture reporting. I lost about 80 of them and also 5 videos and 3 .GIFs beginning right here in the report. These will be known as The Lost Lomo Trove. I’m sure it happened when I disconnected the USB when downloading to my PC. It was an emergency situation. I had to pull it before it finished. You know how that goes. I feel lucky I didn’t lose them all. Please let this be a lesson to all. Never disconnect your USB device while downloading. If you can transfer your pictures via Wi-Fi, all the better. Also back up to the cloud any pictures you don’t feel you can lose. There were only about 4 pictures that survived…I have no idea why they did and the others were lost.
We returned to the room for a pit stop before heading out to the Rio. On the way to the Valet, I noticed that woman and her 10 year old daughter. Her daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw my towering hat. She was pointing at my hat and saying “Mommy, Mommy…The Hat!, The Hat!”. I walked right up to her and pulled out one of my cheap imitation Santa Stuck in Chimney lucky hats from the lucky hat bag I was now carrying. “For Me?” she queried. “Yes. For you…from your humble Lucky Hat Merchant”. She put the hat on and we took several pictures of each other and us both. Mine are all missing, but just imagine a 10 year old girl who was just gifted a no-maintenance Pony equivalent.
Our stop tonight was The All Suites Rio Hotel and Casino. I said “Ok Google” “Navigate to the Rio Hotel”. The nice Google lady directed us the way I had hoped..the back route down Harmon and up Rio Drive instead of down the strip to Flamingo. We had tickets to Penn & Teller and also free ride certificates for the Voodoo Zip Line. The VooDoo ZipLine runs between the Rio’s 51-story Masquerade Tower and the 20-story Ipanema Tower.
Last year The newbie, effn’ Robin and I were crowd funding investors in the VooDoo Zip line. We did it for our December 2013 trip. I was a little concerned at the time when it looked like they wouldn’t make the anticipated November 2013 deadline so I e-mailed Joe Shortel…. the general manager of the project. Joe assured me they would complete the project and we’d be riding it in December 2013. Well it didn’t happen. Joe was kind enough to refund everyone’s money and let us all keep the certificates. I e-mailed him words of encouragement periodically as he was having issues with safety permits….and it was all picky little stuff….like they had no documented plan to rescue Zip Line Riders if they got stuck between buildings. They cleaned up the paperwork and opened on May 25, 2014.
We picked up the Penn and Teller tickets from the box office (50% off from Gold Star) and then strolled to the VooDoo Zip line ticketing office where we converted our certificates to tickets and took the outside glass elevator to the 56th floor (Video Missing)…… through the VooDoo Lounge and outside to the gigantic VooDoo Lounge Terrace. I’ve always liked this space and took many pictures (missing). There was a series of steps that led down to the ZipLine launch area.
Two little kids were preparing for launch so we were able to watch the whole process. First, you empty EVERYTHING from your pockets into a locker. That’s hard for me because I carry a lot of stuff in my pockets and I always have a lot of pockets. I was carrying: The Lucky Hat Bag, 2 ACG’s 2 MRBs, Groupons, my personal wallet, the gambling wallet, players cards, room key, valet ticket, pens, smart phone, voice recorder, Personal Lucky Hat, tickets to Penn and Teller and the ZipLine, handkerchief, moist towelettes, alcohol wipes, spare smart phone battery, smartphone lenses, smartphone tripod (2), X Shot, cough drops, mints, keys, a pound of change, receipts, emergency supplies and equipment and miscellaneous novelty items.. We had to remove our shoes our belts and jackets. Then they weigh you. We were barely under the combined weight limit.
When it’s your turn, you sit on the seat that’s resembles a ski lift chair. It holds two people. They secure you with a bar and chain. There’s a gate in front of you that prevents your 500 foot fall should you somehow slip out of the chair before launch. The people in front of us screamed like little kids they were so scared of the ride. Then, they looked sick when they got off. Little cowards.
Newbie and I sat in our chair. The ride attendant fastened us in. I don’t see what prevents me from slipping right out of the chair if I was not careful—since I like to hold my arms up in the air to build on that feeling of catapulting to certain death….
Here’s the Zip Line View. This is the only surviving picture from up there. I texted it to Robin just before the ride. In the bottom left quadrant you can see the ZipLine Chair. Across the middle the ZipLine itself. In the distacnce…the Ipanema tower.
Newbie seemed a little nervous as we sat there awaiting launch. Then, the gate was down and awaaaaaay weeeee gooooooooooooo. 35 Miles an hour….…500 feet up…..Wheeeeeee! At some point Newbie grabbed my hand that I had suspended above my head. We slowed to a crawl as we approached the end of the line near the smaller tower….then stopped and backed up to the VooDoo ZipLine launch platform. What A Thrill!!!! I could do that all night. But they only let you do it once without paying again.
We tried to have dinner at All American Grill. Horrible service. We told the waiter we were short on time. He said no problem and quickly brought us beer, but never returned to take our food order. Finally, I went walking around and found him. He apologized and gave us the beers on the house. Dinner tonight was Crispy Kreme donut holes from the Rio Gift Shop. Our sorriest meal of the trip.
Penn and Teller always put on a great show, but 5 days of Vegas was slowing me down a little and I nodded off once or twice. I could have used a quadruple espresso. The show ended about 11:00 PM
When we got back to the Cosmopolitan it was about midnight. Time to split the gambling wallet…After all that work…$220 Profit. It’s the worst we’ve ever done…but still….we’ve never lost. Let me repeat that. The Gambling Commies have never lost. What’s truly remarkable is we actually lost 2/3 of our Sportsbets but still won because of the deposit bonus. We lost well over half of our Matchplays, but still won on Matchplays…because of the miracle of Matchplay math.
Newbie was ready for his beauty rest, but I caught a second wind and was ready to explore the Cosmopolitan…..Especially their ability to supply me with free Bombay Sapphire Martinis.
“Cosmo Crystal”
Cartoon Effect
Had a seat at the end of the floor level chandelier bar, popped a twenty into the video poker machine and ordered up a Bombay Sapphire Martini from Sergio the Bartender. In fact I ordered up a double. After two in about 10 minutes I was feeling no pain. Started my third and I was approached by a man who resembled Charles Nelson Reilly.
Welcome to AlanLeroy’s Lucky Hat Emporium.
“Sell me your hat” demanded Charles.
“Oh this is a fine original Lucky Hat my friend…it’s not for sale” I replied.
“I’ll give you $15 for it” Charles retorted.
“Pfffft” “$15 for a lucky hat? I’ve been offered $3000 for this hat” I claimed as I returned to sipping my martini.
“$20” he quickly responded.“
“Now, I can’t sell you this lucky hat, but I may have something else you may be interested in” as I pulled my Lucky Hat Bag off the chair next to me
“No, No” he said dejectedly “I want to buy that hat for that woman over there…She fell in love with it”..Pointing to a Woman at one of the nearby tables.
“Unless you’ve got another one of those hats hiding in your bag, I’m not interested”. Little did he know.
First, I showed Charles one of the Lucky Lighted Christmas Turkey Hats. Even though I demonstrated the 15 Multi Colored LEDs were in fine working order, and noted batteries were included, there was no interest. Next I pulled out the Cheap Imitation Santa Stuck in Chimney Hat…Just like the one I was wearing…..except it was a cheap imitation. It was exactly what he needed.
“Wow. You do have another one….$30…and that’s my Final Offer “ Charles offered.
I could have gone into the details of how it was made of fine Chinese woven petro chemicals, but I knew at this point in the sale, the next person to talk would lose. I just sat there shaking my head.
$40.00 and not a penny more!”
“Sold…High 5!” I yelled….and gave him a high 5 to congratulate him for 2,531% Markup I had just extracted from him. Hey…The Lucky Hat business can be a brutal.
He held the hat up so his girl could see it. She was waving me over to the table and inviting me to join them. I asked Sergio how to reserve my hot Video Poker machine which still had $17.50 on the meter…”Just leave the card in and put a napkin over the keys…no problem” he assured..
I stumbled over to the table where I was introduced to Susan & Omar. “Is Susan your wife I asked Charles Nelson?”…Oh, No. Charles replied. “I’m a homosexual….and I service Susan when Omar’s out of town and Omar when Susan leaves”…“A real backdoor man eh?” was ,my retort. They thought that was funny.
Charles Nelson Reilly, AlanLeroy and Susan
Photo by Omar. He also had a Galaxy S5 and we just touched them together to transfer pictures via the Touch 2 Beam File Transfer feature.
We talked for about an hour most of which was forgotten within moments of being said. I know there was a debate about whether Charles Nelson should have (adopt) children. Omar & Susan thought he would be a fantastic father. He is kind and patient and generous. He looks after their kids from time to time. They thought he could help a struggling kid out of a bad situation, and it would offer Charles a more fulfilling life. I thought that was a horrible idea. I pointed out that kids cost a lot of money and they are often rude, smelly and obnoxious and are always huge time wasters. Charles Nelson was also way too old to be starting a family.
“Crystal Bubbles”
Blue Effect
Eventually I looked back toward my reserved Chandelier Bar seat and there was a woman playing MY machine. Hey! Sergio was gone too. I excused myself and stumbled back to the bar to determine what exactly had happened. I can only describe her as ‘Slinky’….so I named her ‘Slinky’. She had a Slinky dress. She looked Graceful and Sleek… like her namesake compressed helical spring that can be made to somersault down steps.
She had pulled my Identity Club Players Card out and sat it on the bar. I noticed there was only $2.50 left on the meter. She was the only one playing at the entire first floor Chandelier Bar. What a coincidence she picked my machine.
I said..”Hey… I was playing that machine! You found my card! Didn’t you notice the credits I had and my Reserved Napkin?”. Slinky apologized. She thought I had abandoned the machine and didn’t notice the credits until after she started playing..….but there might be ‘some ways she could repay me’. Whoa!
Welcome To Slinky’s Lucky Hootch Emporium.
I turned around looking for some support from my new friends. They would certainly wing-man me out of this awkward situation before my package got rubbed. They were gone. Why is everyone disappearing!? I believe they saw a brief opportunity for escape and took it. What could I say except. “That’s ok ….can I take your picture for my Vegas Scrapbook?”
Slinky smiled for the camera and wanted to know if there was anything else she could do for me. Wha? Do I look like some kind of stupid perverted rube from a hick town? Don’t answer that. It was rhetorical. I didn’t care. I got another Double Bombay Sapphire Martini from the new bartender and started walking around the Cosmopolitan on a futile search for an honest person in need of a Lucky Lighted Christmas Turkey Hat. I never found one.
[/IMG]https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b184/alanleroy/veg2014%20532_zpss4u3gxxb.jpg[/IMG]
“Negative People at Cosmo”
Negative Effect
I walked 18450 steps today.
12/22/14 Monday
I was mighty drunk. For a while I worried that I wasn’t remembering the room number correctly…(“Was that the room number from Cosmo or The D?”) Until I remembered that I had taken a picture of it. I eventually stumbled into the room and fell into bed about 3:30 AM. For whatever reason my eyes opened again about 7:30 AM….Hey! I’m already dressed… How convenient! A real time saver. It’s Gambling Time!
After a couple of espresso shots, I moseyed over to the Craps Tables for my last stand.. From a Gambling perspective I’m just happy if my meager bankroll makes it to the last day….then I shoot it aggressively at craps…generally losing it all, but occasionally hitting for a big win.
My Last Stand strategy is to place all the numbers for the minimum bet, bet the pass line with odds, a dollar on all the hardways, and a dollar on Yo. I double my place and pass line bets every other time they hit until I reach the limit. I also parlay my hardways and Yo bet 3 times.
I bellied up to the table and was confident because I still had my full $300 bankroll. The crew loved my lucky shirt and wanted to make bets on it. My lucky hat was oozing luck. It was my roll. I shot my wad in just under 2 minutes. The stick man said, it was the worst performance ever. Well, that was fun. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. On the way back to the room, I stopped in the High Limit slot area and ran $100 through a $10 Wild Cherry Slot Machine…$20 a pull….I just had a feeling about it….Thirty seconds and 5 pulls later I had lost my $100….Oh man! Talk about going on tilt!
We got cleaned up and packed up. Stops at Venetian and Hard Rock to cash out our final wins/deposit bonuses….Then gassed up and turned in the Black Mustang Convertible and Shuttle bussed to McCarran Airport for the short journey home.
It was another Great Vegas Trip in the books. Until now I had never even been ripped off by one hooker, let alone two. And for the record I do like the Newbie. We’ve been friends all the way back to when we would regularly steal his mom’s car to go joyriding when we were Boy Scouts at age 13. And Robin is also one of my dearest friends…there really was no way he could join us this year….These annual trips are really all about Good Times with Good Friends.
And for those of you who have been following along and had a special request for me…Ok Here it is.
Hooker Picture 200 Points
“I thought you liked Me”
AlanLeroy 1050 Effin’ Robin 0
Oh..and for anyone who’s interested in watching the real train wreck, I’ll be performing one time only at Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club Open Mic Night on December 17, 2015 at 9:00 PM. It is likely to be the funniest thing you’ve ever seen.
https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=17&threadid=325254
12/20/14 Saturday
Saturday morning in Vegas. I was up at the crack of dawn. I like to get out there on Fremont when it’s just me and the cleaning crew.
“Cleaning up in Vegas”
Animation .GIF, Cropped.
First thing every morning I go looking for coffee with at least 2 shots of espresso…sometimes more. I walked over to the Dunkin Donuts at the Fremont and got a couple of cups of coffee with two shots of Turbo Espresso. I had them add an extra turbo shot for the Newbie… because I felt he needed some more pep.
“Fremont Fremont”
Symmetry Effect
Our original plan was to stay put….just enjoy a leisurely day downtown. No driving…plenty of drinking. Instead we decided to catch up on some of the gambling plays we had missed. We set out around 10:00 AM for a three hour tour.
First Stop was Ellis Island for breakfast. There was a 15 minute wait at the coffee shop, so we joined the huddled masses at the bar for one of their seasonal Egg Nog Brandies (LVA free drinks). I had 1 Egg Nog Brandy. Newbie had 3. He was a little hyper this morning. Breakfast was good but the service was slow. We used the LVA 2 4 1 entre, so it was a real value. We also hit the various gambling plays available like the MRB & ACG Free slot plays and the ACG Matchplay.
We drove next door to the Tuscany where we had so many plays it was hard for the player’s club to grasp. Newbie got a new player sign-up slot play bonus of $10 and a sign-up coupon book with a $10 Matchplay. There were also slotplays or Matchplays or both for ACG , MRB and Vegas Rover. I think we made about $80 on our bets here.
For some reason, they didn’t like me in the pit area….I think it was my Lucky Hat. I ordered a Bombay Sapphire Martini from the cocktail waitress. It never came. It turned out that The Pit Boss ordered her not to give it to me because I was not worthy. Well…Just for that, I’ll not grace their halls to take advantage of their free gambling offers again…wait a minute….No, no, no… Just for that I will make it a point to grace their halls again next year….and every year…and I will get my Bombay Sapphire Martini too…and I will make them like me.
After a stop at the Palms to cash in a winning sports bet, we returned to The D. We then proceeded to take advantage of every Matchplay and Free Slot Play opportunity available downtown. We had $150 in Matchplay at Golden Gate ($50 Rovers & $100 Allegiant). We both bet $50 + our $50 Matchplays on one roll of roulette (Red, Red, Red). It came up Black. Ouch. Our biggest bet of the trip…a loser. We also both lost subsequent $25 Matchplay bets at Golden Gate, but won at The D. Our gambling tour took us to Plaza, Las Vegas Club, D, Golden Gate, Four Queens, Downtown Grand and Binions. We enjoyed a couple of excellent Dark Beers at the Plaza Bier Garten. It’s a nice little space, but was totally empty….except for us.
“Binions Millions”
Florescent Effect
Throughout the trip I was able to check on our various Sports Bets….especially our big bets on the Colorado State Rams by simply saying to my phone: “Ok Google” “Las Vegas Bowl Score”…and the nice Google Lady would tell me the score. It was ugly. There was no joy in Fort Collins. The Green and Gold had lost. In retrospect we should have known better and stuck with our cool team name betting strategy. It was the Utah UTES….that’s for the Tribe of Indians comprised of the UTE people who populated the Great Basin. I’m sure the Utes would have enjoyed a Colorado Ram for dinner. What were we thinking?
Speaking of dinner, it was at Hennessey’s Tavern …In the World’s largest Pint.
“World’s Largest Pint”
We had a Hennessey’s $50 gift certificate we won at a Vegas 4 Locals E-Bay auction for $26. We both ordered the Burger Sampler which included four mini-burgers. We had cheeseburger, mushroom burger, avocado burger and barbecue sauce with bacon burger. The sampler included French Fries and a Pickle. We also enjoyed many Guinness Stouts. I’d definitely go back…it was another excellent deal….especially at ½ price. I have probably walked by this place more than 100 times and had never set foot inside. I’m glad we did.
Our next stop was Fremont East and the Vanguard Lounge. We had a $40 Groupon we paid $16 for. The cocktail lounge was completely empty, but a party of 10 women walked in just in front of us. This bar is known for their ‘Mixology’, so we challenged Landon The Bartender to pour us each a $20 drink. He asked what drinks we like. Newbie mentioned tequila….I professed my love of Gin. Newbie got a single shot of a higher end reposado tequila. Landy poured me a Bijou cocktail. It was my first. Made with Plymouth Gin (Navy Strength), Green Chartreuse, Vermouth and Bitters.
He educated us on the history of Green Chartreuse. It’s a secret blend of over 125 herbs. There are only two Carthusian Monks who are entrusted with the 400 year old formula. Landon poured us a small shot of Chartreuse to share. Newbie thought it tasted like burning tires…I got more of a combo disinfectant/pesticide like chemical with a strong herbal nose. I told Landon that I wasn’t sure I liked the Bijou. He told me the Navy Strength Gin was 100 Proof and the Chartreuse clocked in at 110 and it would get me drunker quicker. I acquired a taste for it.
We walked on down to El Cortez for our last free play of the day….then casually strolled back down Fremont taking in all of the sights and sounds of a December Saturday Night in Downtown Las Vegas. We ran into drunk, despondent Colorado fans and drunk, elated Utah fans.
Finally made it back to The D about midnight. A Bombay sapphire martini at Vue Bar and a few rounds of Keno and it was time for bed. Tip:—The Keno Lounge at D (And Fitzgerald’s before it) will give you drink coupons you can take right to the Vue bar….if you just can’t wait for the cocktail waitress. I purchased 20 games of 1 dollar 6 spot keno, so I could have a nice big winner to greet my morning. Headed up to the room and called it a night.
“Dreamy Butts of Las Vegas Club”
12/21/14 Sunday
Up early again. More Coffee and Espresso. My twenty games of Keno were all losers. Overall it was an OK stay at The D. The room was clean. I have always loved the Vue Bar and the Keno Lounge. The Long Bar is cool and so are the Dancer Dealers. There were two problems though.
1. On Saturday night there were elevator problems. Serious problems. Must have been 50 people waiting. They had security trying to direct traffic and talk of ½ hour waits. That didn’t bother me since we weren’t trying to use the elevator then.
2. Newbie complained of a cold shower Saturday Morning. That didn’t bother me either since I had already showered.
Checked out of the D. (Our room was $13.00. The Resort Fee was $25), picked up the Mustang Convertible and headed right down Las Vegas Boulevard to The Cosmopolitan…Our final destination resort.
I have no idea why…but the Cosmopolitan was kind enough to offer me two free Mid-Week nights. We were taking advantage of one. Made it to Check-In at 11:00 AM where I requested a complementary upgrade to the Penthouse Suite. The nice clerk found us a Terrace Suite she could upgrade us to. But wait a minute---it was a one King Bed room. I didn’t like the newbie THAT much. She claimed there was nothing else she could do. I’ve learned that when the Check In agent tells me ‘No’ they often don’t mean ‘Absolutely No’, I just pretended she really said ‘Tell me more, AlanLeroy’. So I did. Eventually she called over to Marketing and got the ok to upgrade us to a 2 queen terrace suite. Score!
The room was excellent. It was spacious and modern. Of course the best feature was the terrace and wonderful view. I could have spent the day lounging on the balcony…but I’m no Vegas lounger.
Cosmopolitan Terrace View
“Illustrated Harmon”.
Illustration Setting--Zoomed
They are removing the Harmon piece by piece. I imagine next December it will be gone. I also have a .GIF I shot from Planet Hollywood that perpetually raises and lowers Harmon debris.
“Deconstructing Harmon”
“Veer Towers”. The 37 Story all residential towers at City Center.
“City Center Illustrated”.
Illustration Setting
“City Center Panorama”
Panorama Mode
‘Illustrated Balcony’
Illustration Setting
“City Center Illustrated—South”
Illustration Setting
I donned my original lucky hat (The “OH”) and my very lucky craps shirt and was now ready for my final lucky day in Vegas.
Lunch was at Cosmopolitan’s Estiatorio Milos for the 22.14 lunch special. It was our best meal of the trip and one of the best values in town for a fine 3 course lunch. Although we had reservations requesting a window view and we were first in line, they tried to seat us with the proletariat in the middle of the restaurant. I suggested that a window table would be more in keeping with the quality of my hat…….and the request was promptly granted.
“Newbie Milos”
Tomato Salad---feta cheese, seasoned with Greek herbs & extra virgin olive oil
Greek Meze Plate---Tarama, Tzatziki, Htipiti, manouri cheese, olives & cherry tomatoes (missing)
Colorado Prime Lamb Chop with French fries and broccoli
($10 supplementary)
Lavraki--grilled Mediterranean bass
The Real Greek Yogurt & Espresso
Everything about the lunch and the service and the room was just perfect. I’m not sure what else I can say about it…except the Sea Bass is flown in fresh daily and if you can get one of those window seats, it adds to the whole experience. After lunch we hit the Cantor Sportsbook at Cosmo for our final sports bets.
Then we struck out walking south headed toward Mandalay Bay. We had an appointment with a 4:00 PM Happy Hour.
The next two shots are the best examples of real simulated lomogaphy in the report. Although they aren’t as striking as many of the special effects I’ve used, they kind of have their very own warmth and feeling. That….kind of warm blurry Las Vegas feeling that comes with the combination of lack of sleep and large quantities of espresso and alcohol.
“Lomo Flowers”
LomoWarm Effect
“Crystals Lomo”
Vintage Effect
“Electric Cyrstals”
Infrared Effect
“Aria Water and Penguin”
Pastel Oil Effect
“Veer for Roger Rabbit”
Cartoon Effect
We made our way up to the second floor of New York, New York and walked across the bridge over Tropicana to Excaliber. Then boarded the Tram to Mandalay Bay. At Mandalay Bay we purchased and played the 30 for 20 Win Card chips and then at 4:00 PM, visited Red Square for their Happy Hour. We each had a Happy Hour Beer and then decided to splurge on some fine Russian Vodka.
“Jewel of Russia”
It priced out at about $25 a shot, and it was the smoothest Vodka I’ve ever tasted.
We then retraced our steps back to Excaliber and over the bridge to New York New York where we took advantage of another $30 for $20 Win Card deal. The Newbie and I parked ourselves with our Win Chips at a Roulette table. I bet $15 on Red and $15 on a 1/3 of the table. Hey! My 1/3 bet won. I left the win card chips on the 1/3 bet. The dealer put the wheel in motion and set the ball moving. I had a feeling. I said to newbie…”It’s going to be 29 Black”. I moved a $5.00 chip from the third bet to 29 Black. The dealer noticed the move…picked up my bet and put it back on my 1/3 bet and said $10.00 minimum. Then waved her hand and said “no more bets”. Of course you all know how this one ends up. 29 Black it is! And I lost the 1/3 bet. Let that be a lesson. Next time you get that “I know the number” feeling, move your whole stack to it.
Had a brief stop at the new Hershey Store there at NY NY.
“Macro Candy”
Macro Lens. This was the only test of my new Macro Lens. I put the phone on top of a plastic box of candy that had tiny colored sprinkles on it.
We then returned to the COSMO to freshen up before our last night on the town. While I’m wearing the luckiest of hats, I am constantly stopped and smiled at and pointed at and high fived at. I hear the words “Great Hat” or “Love that Hat” all the time. Today was no exception. In fact a lady stopped me at Cosmo and said “My 10 year old daughter pointed out that hat to me. It’s so awesome!”. Yes. It is awesome.
“City Night”
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS: There is a gap in my picture reporting. I lost about 80 of them and also 5 videos and 3 .GIFs beginning right here in the report. These will be known as The Lost Lomo Trove. I’m sure it happened when I disconnected the USB when downloading to my PC. It was an emergency situation. I had to pull it before it finished. You know how that goes. I feel lucky I didn’t lose them all. Please let this be a lesson to all. Never disconnect your USB device while downloading. If you can transfer your pictures via Wi-Fi, all the better. Also back up to the cloud any pictures you don’t feel you can lose. There were only about 4 pictures that survived…I have no idea why they did and the others were lost.
We returned to the room for a pit stop before heading out to the Rio. On the way to the Valet, I noticed that woman and her 10 year old daughter. Her daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw my towering hat. She was pointing at my hat and saying “Mommy, Mommy…The Hat!, The Hat!”. I walked right up to her and pulled out one of my cheap imitation Santa Stuck in Chimney lucky hats from the lucky hat bag I was now carrying. “For Me?” she queried. “Yes. For you…from your humble Lucky Hat Merchant”. She put the hat on and we took several pictures of each other and us both. Mine are all missing, but just imagine a 10 year old girl who was just gifted a no-maintenance Pony equivalent.
Our stop tonight was The All Suites Rio Hotel and Casino. I said “Ok Google” “Navigate to the Rio Hotel”. The nice Google lady directed us the way I had hoped..the back route down Harmon and up Rio Drive instead of down the strip to Flamingo. We had tickets to Penn & Teller and also free ride certificates for the Voodoo Zip Line. The VooDoo ZipLine runs between the Rio’s 51-story Masquerade Tower and the 20-story Ipanema Tower.
Last year The newbie, effn’ Robin and I were crowd funding investors in the VooDoo Zip line. We did it for our December 2013 trip. I was a little concerned at the time when it looked like they wouldn’t make the anticipated November 2013 deadline so I e-mailed Joe Shortel…. the general manager of the project. Joe assured me they would complete the project and we’d be riding it in December 2013. Well it didn’t happen. Joe was kind enough to refund everyone’s money and let us all keep the certificates. I e-mailed him words of encouragement periodically as he was having issues with safety permits….and it was all picky little stuff….like they had no documented plan to rescue Zip Line Riders if they got stuck between buildings. They cleaned up the paperwork and opened on May 25, 2014.
We picked up the Penn and Teller tickets from the box office (50% off from Gold Star) and then strolled to the VooDoo Zip line ticketing office where we converted our certificates to tickets and took the outside glass elevator to the 56th floor (Video Missing)…… through the VooDoo Lounge and outside to the gigantic VooDoo Lounge Terrace. I’ve always liked this space and took many pictures (missing). There was a series of steps that led down to the ZipLine launch area.
Two little kids were preparing for launch so we were able to watch the whole process. First, you empty EVERYTHING from your pockets into a locker. That’s hard for me because I carry a lot of stuff in my pockets and I always have a lot of pockets. I was carrying: The Lucky Hat Bag, 2 ACG’s 2 MRBs, Groupons, my personal wallet, the gambling wallet, players cards, room key, valet ticket, pens, smart phone, voice recorder, Personal Lucky Hat, tickets to Penn and Teller and the ZipLine, handkerchief, moist towelettes, alcohol wipes, spare smart phone battery, smartphone lenses, smartphone tripod (2), X Shot, cough drops, mints, keys, a pound of change, receipts, emergency supplies and equipment and miscellaneous novelty items.. We had to remove our shoes our belts and jackets. Then they weigh you. We were barely under the combined weight limit.
When it’s your turn, you sit on the seat that’s resembles a ski lift chair. It holds two people. They secure you with a bar and chain. There’s a gate in front of you that prevents your 500 foot fall should you somehow slip out of the chair before launch. The people in front of us screamed like little kids they were so scared of the ride. Then, they looked sick when they got off. Little cowards.
Newbie and I sat in our chair. The ride attendant fastened us in. I don’t see what prevents me from slipping right out of the chair if I was not careful—since I like to hold my arms up in the air to build on that feeling of catapulting to certain death….
Here’s the Zip Line View. This is the only surviving picture from up there. I texted it to Robin just before the ride. In the bottom left quadrant you can see the ZipLine Chair. Across the middle the ZipLine itself. In the distacnce…the Ipanema tower.
Newbie seemed a little nervous as we sat there awaiting launch. Then, the gate was down and awaaaaaay weeeee gooooooooooooo. 35 Miles an hour….…500 feet up…..Wheeeeeee! At some point Newbie grabbed my hand that I had suspended above my head. We slowed to a crawl as we approached the end of the line near the smaller tower….then stopped and backed up to the VooDoo ZipLine launch platform. What A Thrill!!!! I could do that all night. But they only let you do it once without paying again.
We tried to have dinner at All American Grill. Horrible service. We told the waiter we were short on time. He said no problem and quickly brought us beer, but never returned to take our food order. Finally, I went walking around and found him. He apologized and gave us the beers on the house. Dinner tonight was Crispy Kreme donut holes from the Rio Gift Shop. Our sorriest meal of the trip.
Penn and Teller always put on a great show, but 5 days of Vegas was slowing me down a little and I nodded off once or twice. I could have used a quadruple espresso. The show ended about 11:00 PM
When we got back to the Cosmopolitan it was about midnight. Time to split the gambling wallet…After all that work…$220 Profit. It’s the worst we’ve ever done…but still….we’ve never lost. Let me repeat that. The Gambling Commies have never lost. What’s truly remarkable is we actually lost 2/3 of our Sportsbets but still won because of the deposit bonus. We lost well over half of our Matchplays, but still won on Matchplays…because of the miracle of Matchplay math.
Newbie was ready for his beauty rest, but I caught a second wind and was ready to explore the Cosmopolitan…..Especially their ability to supply me with free Bombay Sapphire Martinis.
“Cosmo Crystal”
Cartoon Effect
Had a seat at the end of the floor level chandelier bar, popped a twenty into the video poker machine and ordered up a Bombay Sapphire Martini from Sergio the Bartender. In fact I ordered up a double. After two in about 10 minutes I was feeling no pain. Started my third and I was approached by a man who resembled Charles Nelson Reilly.
Welcome to AlanLeroy’s Lucky Hat Emporium.
“Sell me your hat” demanded Charles.
“Oh this is a fine original Lucky Hat my friend…it’s not for sale” I replied.
“I’ll give you $15 for it” Charles retorted.
“Pfffft” “$15 for a lucky hat? I’ve been offered $3000 for this hat” I claimed as I returned to sipping my martini.
“$20” he quickly responded.“
“Now, I can’t sell you this lucky hat, but I may have something else you may be interested in” as I pulled my Lucky Hat Bag off the chair next to me
“No, No” he said dejectedly “I want to buy that hat for that woman over there…She fell in love with it”..Pointing to a Woman at one of the nearby tables.
“Unless you’ve got another one of those hats hiding in your bag, I’m not interested”. Little did he know.
First, I showed Charles one of the Lucky Lighted Christmas Turkey Hats. Even though I demonstrated the 15 Multi Colored LEDs were in fine working order, and noted batteries were included, there was no interest. Next I pulled out the Cheap Imitation Santa Stuck in Chimney Hat…Just like the one I was wearing…..except it was a cheap imitation. It was exactly what he needed.
“Wow. You do have another one….$30…and that’s my Final Offer “ Charles offered.
I could have gone into the details of how it was made of fine Chinese woven petro chemicals, but I knew at this point in the sale, the next person to talk would lose. I just sat there shaking my head.
$40.00 and not a penny more!”
“Sold…High 5!” I yelled….and gave him a high 5 to congratulate him for 2,531% Markup I had just extracted from him. Hey…The Lucky Hat business can be a brutal.
He held the hat up so his girl could see it. She was waving me over to the table and inviting me to join them. I asked Sergio how to reserve my hot Video Poker machine which still had $17.50 on the meter…”Just leave the card in and put a napkin over the keys…no problem” he assured..
I stumbled over to the table where I was introduced to Susan & Omar. “Is Susan your wife I asked Charles Nelson?”…Oh, No. Charles replied. “I’m a homosexual….and I service Susan when Omar’s out of town and Omar when Susan leaves”…“A real backdoor man eh?” was ,my retort. They thought that was funny.
Charles Nelson Reilly, AlanLeroy and Susan
Photo by Omar. He also had a Galaxy S5 and we just touched them together to transfer pictures via the Touch 2 Beam File Transfer feature.
We talked for about an hour most of which was forgotten within moments of being said. I know there was a debate about whether Charles Nelson should have (adopt) children. Omar & Susan thought he would be a fantastic father. He is kind and patient and generous. He looks after their kids from time to time. They thought he could help a struggling kid out of a bad situation, and it would offer Charles a more fulfilling life. I thought that was a horrible idea. I pointed out that kids cost a lot of money and they are often rude, smelly and obnoxious and are always huge time wasters. Charles Nelson was also way too old to be starting a family.
“Crystal Bubbles”
Blue Effect
Eventually I looked back toward my reserved Chandelier Bar seat and there was a woman playing MY machine. Hey! Sergio was gone too. I excused myself and stumbled back to the bar to determine what exactly had happened. I can only describe her as ‘Slinky’….so I named her ‘Slinky’. She had a Slinky dress. She looked Graceful and Sleek… like her namesake compressed helical spring that can be made to somersault down steps.
She had pulled my Identity Club Players Card out and sat it on the bar. I noticed there was only $2.50 left on the meter. She was the only one playing at the entire first floor Chandelier Bar. What a coincidence she picked my machine.
I said..”Hey… I was playing that machine! You found my card! Didn’t you notice the credits I had and my Reserved Napkin?”. Slinky apologized. She thought I had abandoned the machine and didn’t notice the credits until after she started playing..….but there might be ‘some ways she could repay me’. Whoa!
Welcome To Slinky’s Lucky Hootch Emporium.
I turned around looking for some support from my new friends. They would certainly wing-man me out of this awkward situation before my package got rubbed. They were gone. Why is everyone disappearing!? I believe they saw a brief opportunity for escape and took it. What could I say except. “That’s ok ….can I take your picture for my Vegas Scrapbook?”
Slinky smiled for the camera and wanted to know if there was anything else she could do for me. Wha? Do I look like some kind of stupid perverted rube from a hick town? Don’t answer that. It was rhetorical. I didn’t care. I got another Double Bombay Sapphire Martini from the new bartender and started walking around the Cosmopolitan on a futile search for an honest person in need of a Lucky Lighted Christmas Turkey Hat. I never found one.
[/IMG]https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b184/alanleroy/veg2014%20532_zpss4u3gxxb.jpg[/IMG]
“Negative People at Cosmo”
Negative Effect
I walked 18450 steps today.
12/22/14 Monday
I was mighty drunk. For a while I worried that I wasn’t remembering the room number correctly…(“Was that the room number from Cosmo or The D?”) Until I remembered that I had taken a picture of it. I eventually stumbled into the room and fell into bed about 3:30 AM. For whatever reason my eyes opened again about 7:30 AM….Hey! I’m already dressed… How convenient! A real time saver. It’s Gambling Time!
After a couple of espresso shots, I moseyed over to the Craps Tables for my last stand.. From a Gambling perspective I’m just happy if my meager bankroll makes it to the last day….then I shoot it aggressively at craps…generally losing it all, but occasionally hitting for a big win.
My Last Stand strategy is to place all the numbers for the minimum bet, bet the pass line with odds, a dollar on all the hardways, and a dollar on Yo. I double my place and pass line bets every other time they hit until I reach the limit. I also parlay my hardways and Yo bet 3 times.
I bellied up to the table and was confident because I still had my full $300 bankroll. The crew loved my lucky shirt and wanted to make bets on it. My lucky hat was oozing luck. It was my roll. I shot my wad in just under 2 minutes. The stick man said, it was the worst performance ever. Well, that was fun. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. On the way back to the room, I stopped in the High Limit slot area and ran $100 through a $10 Wild Cherry Slot Machine…$20 a pull….I just had a feeling about it….Thirty seconds and 5 pulls later I had lost my $100….Oh man! Talk about going on tilt!
We got cleaned up and packed up. Stops at Venetian and Hard Rock to cash out our final wins/deposit bonuses….Then gassed up and turned in the Black Mustang Convertible and Shuttle bussed to McCarran Airport for the short journey home.
It was another Great Vegas Trip in the books. Until now I had never even been ripped off by one hooker, let alone two. And for the record I do like the Newbie. We’ve been friends all the way back to when we would regularly steal his mom’s car to go joyriding when we were Boy Scouts at age 13. And Robin is also one of my dearest friends…there really was no way he could join us this year….These annual trips are really all about Good Times with Good Friends.
And for those of you who have been following along and had a special request for me…Ok Here it is.
Hooker Picture 200 Points
“I thought you liked Me”
AlanLeroy 1050 Effin’ Robin 0
Oh..and for anyone who’s interested in watching the real train wreck, I’ll be performing one time only at Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club Open Mic Night on December 17, 2015 at 9:00 PM. It is likely to be the funniest thing you’ve ever seen.
